The Bottle
by Dumpling Soup
Summary: Faced with a decision to leave Wonderland after hearing that she doesn't have to fill the bottle to leave, Alice struggles within herself to tear herself away and leave, but a certain knight that knows how to pull her strings better than anyone she's ever met, isn't making it that easy. Now she must chose: Stay with Ace or leave Wonderland for good. Ace-x-Alice one shot.


_What happens if Alice finds out that she doesn't have to fill the bottle to leave?_

"What's wrong?" Ace bent down next to Alice who sat on a log next to an open fire that Ace had set up for the night. He placed a hand on her shoulder, his eyes narrowing, watching every movement he could of the foreigner. A friendly smile sprouted on his lips when Alice looked over his direction. She smiled back.

"It's nothing, Ace. I just..." She pondered her words for a moment. There was something mysteriously eerie about saying something about being lost to Ace that sent a shiver down her spine, even though she'd told him the same thing countless times already. Despite her initial doubt, she spoke the words, anyways. "I'm just a little lost is all."

Ace fought the urge to laugh, to grab her and tease her about everything like he so wanted to. She was so like him yet completely different and didn't even notice that it hurt. He kept this upbeat smile on. Alice sighed, looking over to him with an obviously forced smile Ace detected in seconds.

"Let's just go to bed. The fire's almost out, anyways."

"What's on your mind?" As much as he could detect the little changes in her emotions (she was as easy as reading a book when it came to such things), he couldn't figure out this time what she was thinking about. There was a longing look in her eyes, distant and broken. He'd seen that look before. Now he remembered.

"Nothing."

_Liar_, he thought, pressing his thumb to his mouth as a smile curled over his lips. _You want to go home_. Ace had often stood outside the door to Julius' workroom and listened as Alice would tell Julius stories of her outsider life and how she desperately wanted to go back. He'd always interrupted when he couldn't take it anymore; and in those times, it was then that she'd turn to him with those same eyes. Julius told Ace many times that he shouldn't be messing around with Alice so casually, that she was was far too responsible for him, that she didn't belong in Wonderland. Each time he called out to her, there was a feeling of not wanting to let her go that washed over him like a tidal wave. How could he just let her go without any qualms?

Alice was crawling into the tent when Ace looked back. He watched her clamber into the tent then stick her head out to him, tilt it with creased eyebrows and pouting eyes. "Are you coming?"

He laughed, turning back to the almost dead fire. "Are you scared of the dark or do you want a man to sleep with you that badly, Alice? If that's the case then I'd be more than happy to lend you certain parts of my body for the night."

She screamed as she shuffled into the tent to the safety of under her blanket, which if she had to admit, wasn't the safest place she could imagine being. "You perverted knight!"

Ace laughed again, his chuckle fading into the night within seconds of coming out. The knight didn't mind being with the foreigner, but there were times much like tonight that he felt bored with everything, like they'd somehow sunk into doing the same routine over and over again like the rest of Wonderland had succumb to. When the foreigner came, Ace was actually overjoyed that something had finally changed in his forever unchanging world, but now...

_How boring_.

Alice tightened the blankets around her. She was waiting for Ace to stick his head in the tent and zip it up for the night, but as the light from outside grew brighter, Alice knew Ace wouldn't be in for a while. She rolled over on her side and let out a puff of air, unsure of if she was happy or sad. Alice tried to sleep, tried to close her eyes and not let her brain wander, but it was futile; her brain still wandered back to that morning as she lay in bed.

She had woken from her dream with a start to find herself in the void of a dream world she usually met Nightmare in. This time, however, he was not right there to greet her. She walked around, hugging her arms, searching everywhere her eyes could see. Then she stopped, her mouth agape. Peter stood before a floating Nightmare.

_I'm worried that pesky Mortician will tell her about it. He's always talking about how she would be better off leaving here! What happens if Alice finds out she doesn't have to fill the bottle to leave?_

Then...

Nightmare's eyes looked up to Alice. His eyes were dark and grim like a dark secret was hiding behind them. _I guess she'd leave._

"Alice!"

Alice jumped, her whole body jolting from the shock of Ace's sudden voice calling out to her. She sat up in her sleeping bag and put her hand on her face, dizzy and unsure of when she fell asleep in the first place. All she could remember was what Peter had said, that line that haunted her. "What happened?"

Ace was bent over in front of her, his face was positioned away from the small amount of light that crept in from the fire, so Alice could barely see it. She was a little relieved. "You were screaming. Were you having a nightmare?"

"A nightmare? Yeah, something like that." Ace stared at her. She clutched the blanket on top of her in her fists. There was no reason. "Ace, if I could go home, what would you do?"

The knight stood up before she finished and took off his coat, placing it on the ground next to his side of the tent. Alice thought for a moment that he was ignoring her question. She stared at him, watching him make his way under his covers.

"I wouldn't let you leave."

Alice slid back into her sleeping bag. Hearing Ace say something like that, it tore her inside. She knew that at the beginning all she wanted to do was go home, to leave this strange world behind and go back to the world that she knew, but now, hearing Ace say something like that, she was torn between him and her world. If only there was some way to have both, but the world wasn't like that. It was bittersweet. She would have to choose, and when she chose, she'd lose something forever. The problem was that she didn't know what she wanted to lose. She wasn't okay with losing either, but the choice must be made and once it was made, there was no second chances.

"Are you going back?"

"I don't know. I'd like to."

"You'd like to, but you can't."

"Maybe."

There were so many things that she hid behind closed doors that were ready to burst out. She could hear the sound of Ace rustling. _Come and save me_, she thought, but dared not say that out loud. _Come and save me_. Silent pleas that went unanswered. Alice lowered her eyes, letting the sleep take her over once again. There was a small pain that shot through her back, causing her to turn over to her side. She snuggled up close to herself. Her eyes were closed until she felt the stares. She opened them.

"Did I wake you?"

"I wasn't asleep."

Why was he staring at her? Ace didn't let up, which meant she couldn't get to sleep. There was a part of her that wanted to scream at him, but then there was a feeling like it'd lead to something she didn't want to happen, like it'd cause Ace to do something that'd give her a reason to stay. Why couldn't she burn her bridges so easily like other people without a hint of regret? Probably because she loved him too much. He was already so hurt, how could she do more to him?

"Ace?"

"Yes."

"Could you… nevermind. Good night."

Alice rolled over to her other side so she didn't have to face Ace. She'd tell him in the morning on the way to Julius' that she decided to go home. That was all she had to say. Julius would talk to Ace, make him understand that this place is somewhere she should never have come to. In the first place, she was kidnapped by Peter against her will, forced to drink some kind of strange medicine without her consent, and thrown into a strange game she didn't know how to play with rules she never quite understood.

Ace's voice was soft. In a sense, with the quiet of the surrounding area, it was particularly loud; no need for regular voices, no need for shouting. "If you're thinking about going home, Alice, I already said that I wasn't going to let you go. You're lost. If you go back now, you might just end up dead."

The words sent shivers down the girl's spine. Seeing dead bodies fall down in front of her had terrified her beyond words, sent her legs falling to the ground and yet somehow she still was able to recover from that, forgive Ace and move on; this was a different story: It terrified her, stiffened her body so much she didn't think she could even move. There was no way of getting back to Julius like this.

"I have to go back. You don't understand, Ace; it isn't as simple as you're pinning it out to be. I have a family, a life to go back to. There's things that I want to do and other stuff I have to get done. I can't cut the rope."

"No." His voice made her cringe. It was like he knew everything, saw right through her; it scared her too; almost everything in this world scared her when Ace was involved. "You just don't want to attach yourself to something. It has nothing to do with a life you almost despised."

"How did you—"

"I've been around you long enough, Alice." Ace rolled over in his sleeping bag to his side, his arm bent under his head for a pillow, his eyes staring directly into the foreigner's. Every single movement she made with any part of her body—her eyes, her nose, her legs—he could sense, and knew he was in control. He liked to be in control: Dominate her, shake her chains, rattle her bones until she starts to break and then break her some more. There was, on occasion, something more in his twisted love, something romantic and tender that let him embrace her in his arms and cast away each and every worry she had, he had, something that showed the more mundane side of the killer. "I know the kinds of conversations you have with Julius; I've listened to enough of them that I could recite one for you right here, if you so please. I've heard your stories about your petty little life. I know all there is to know about you, Alice, and I know you want to stay here."

"I have to go home." Words couldn't get through to Ace, but there was no action she could show to enlighten him on how serious she had gotten about this decision. She closed her eyes, a pain that formed in her heart had rolled down to the rest of her body quickly, like poison—a deadly killer in only seconds, exactly like her knight in freshly spewed blood. "It's only you that's making me waiver."

If there was any doubt, it was all caste aside. Those were the words that Ace had wanted to hear. He was scared for a second that it really might have been too late to convince her, but now he knew that he was really in control—sending her into turmoil every second of her waking conscious.

"But I have to go because you don't understand." Alice rolled the bottle over to Ace. It was only half-filled. He examined the small bottle in his hands, almost a pebble in comparison. "You know the rules of the game, don't you?"

He rolled his eyes lazily over to the girl. There was something dark shining in them, something resentful that was coming out. Of course he knew the rules of the game, he knew them so much more than he ever wanted to know them. "You can't leave unless you drink this. Then, as a knight, I could drink it for you, then I would be the one who would escort you out, no?" He grinned. There was no response.

"Drink it." A darker face emerged in Ace. It wasn't the answer he was looking for. "I don't need it. Those are the rules," she said slowly, almost trying to explain it to herself for the hundredth time. "It's true. But those are not the rules, also: I don't have to drink that bottle to go home."

"How do you know?" His voice was deeper, sinister: Confusion, anxiety, anger, a desire to have something you can never have, all swirling into one sound, one voice. "Who told you?"

"Are you mad?" she asked. Ace only blinked. "It was Peter. He never told me, more like he was fighting with Nightmare when he brought me there. Peter never saw me, but I heard him tell Nightmare about it, and he confirmed what Peter was saying: He told me I could leave."

"But you're staying, so anything that stupid caterpillar and Sir Peter say have no meaning."

Alice tried to protest, tried to explain so Ace could understand, but he wasn't having any of her whining today. He got up out of his sleeping bag and threw himself on Alice. His arms were beside her head, his legs beside hers. She still didn't shut up until he finally brought his lips down to hers. All she could think about was how smooth his lips were, how they fit perfectly between her own, and how much he tasted like the wilderness. It made her want more. She craved his taste like a hungry beast; she had for awhile after the first time he had snuck a kiss on her lips (it was after he had found out about her meeting with Pierce and, seething with jealousy, decided the best way to "cleanse" her of rat germs was to give her a smooch himself; of course, it never happened again-until tonight). Most times she was able to keep her secret hidden, but tonight was the exception of all exceptions. Maybe it was because she was resolute on saying goodbye, that this could be her last and final moments with him. She could love him if she had enough courage to do so. Going back home, it was only her running away from something that could lead to some kind of future for her. The very idea scared her so much that she was willing to face almost utter humiliation and suffering again.

There'd still be a part of her that would long for the touch of the knight on her skin, long for his scent and taste every day when she couldn't see him. It was a hard choice to make, but it was the only choice she could make before she got serious. At the very least, she owed it to her sister to return.

Ace stroked the skin around her face, their lips still intertwined, fighting for dominance. "Stay." His voice was whispered as he lowered his lips to her neck. "Stay here. With me."

"I can't, and you know it." Her voice was small, weak, airy. Alice could barely think with Ace sending shivers up and down her body, pressing her face against the floor. She wanted him so badly, it almost hurt.

"Liar." He called her out. She flinched. "Liar, liar," he said again. Alice moaned, tried to struggle and get away from his grasp, but he was too strong for her—he was a man on a mission that couldn't be stopped halfway done. Ace was calling her out and she couldn't defend herself against him. "Just say you love me, Alice."

"This isn't a game!"

He traced his fingers around her lips, down her neck, and to her chest where his finger drew three circles before he withdrew it. "I never thought it was a game to begin with. A knight wouldn't do that now."

"You're no knight," she hissed.

"And you're no lady," he retorted.

"This isn't fair."

"I don't play fair."

He kissed her again, this time slower, sweeter, letting his lips struggle with hers before finally setting into just the right spot for him; he pressed harder, pushing their bodies closer. Heat radiated from both of them. It was driving Alice mad. When Ace pulled apart from her, she was breathless, completely under his spell.

"Why do you have to make this so much harder than it already is?"

Ace smiled. "Because I want to see you struggle, broken and lost; because I love you like that, Alice: Your imperfections you casually toss away that are so like me, in a way it's almost scary."

"You're mean."

"I never said once that I was nice."

She wrapped her arms around Ace's neck, pulling him forward, interlocking their lips for only a brief moment, before she pulled back, placing her head on his shoulder. "I love you, Ace; I love you so much."


End file.
